For IDOC- I put $800 in student wages/earned income for both the FAFSA and CSS. But I earned the income from working for neighbors so I don’t have a w-2 or 1099. How do I provide proof of this income for the Non-Tax filer’s statement? Any help will be greatly appreciated 
I had this very same question! My son earned $300 for playing cello in a show, but he was paid by the director himself since he technically wasn’t supposed to get paid. He also earned $100 from playing his cello in another show. He did fill out a W9 for that, but hasn’t gotten anything in the mail like a 1099 or W2 for that. I am also trying to do the IDOC, but don’t know what to do about this.
@sugoi15 Why didn’t you file your required federal (and state if applicable) income tax return (Form 1040 and Schedule C) to report and pay tax on your $800 in self-employment income?
You must submit a form provided on iDocs called the student non-tax filer’s statement where you list this income. Have your son sign the form listing income and sources. I believe if the income is undr $1000 no income taxes have to be filed. Then scan the document and upload it on iDocs. I forgot how to find the documents on iDocs but I called their number and they told me.
You must submit a form provided on iDocs called the student non-tax filer’s statement where you list this income. Have your son sign the form listing income and sources. I believe if the income is undr $1000 no income taxes have to be filed. Then scan the document and upload it on iDocs. I forgot how to find the documents on iDocs but I called their number and they told me.
You don’t have to if it’s under $1000. I’m about 99% sure of that since I just did my taxes and my daughter earned under $1000 for 2014.
@Madison85 Thank you for your help. I am still confused though, because my mom said I do not have to file taxes and 1040 for this, as I never received checks for these small jobs (all paid in cash). I will file whatever I need to, but I’m not sure if I even can, as I have no checks to file? Also I have earned that income while I was under 18 if that makes any difference.
@techmaninathens I filled out the non-tax filer’s form, but in the instructions at the top it said to you must attach all w-2’s and 1099’s received. Am I just allowed to ignore this?
Also, am I even supposed to have this $800 under wages/income earned? Or should it be moved to student untaxed income?
Just FYI, just because you receive cash for something does NOT mean you do not need to report it and file taxes on it. Checks vs. cash have absolutely nothing to do with it. There are rules for what the minimum amounts are for filing at the federal and your state level, but the cash vs. check issue means nothing.
@intparent Okay, thank you.
Also I thought 1040 is unnecessary if income is less than $6,200 and unearned income less than $1,000?
Please correct me if I am wrong
You may be subject to this requirement for filing because of the nature of your work:
Table 3, page 5 of IRS Pub 501:
@annoyingdad — My work consisted of lawn mowing, baby sitting, and dog sitting. Would that fall under self employment? I’m having trouble convincing my mom because she says dependents only file taxes if they earn over $6,200. She never heard of teens filing taxes for babysitting 
@sbjdorlo
I found this thread to be helpful.
From this, I’m finding that I was supposed to put this income under untaxed income??
I think I will email each college’s financial aid offices just to be sure of what they want, because I am unsure
No. The person providing the definition of untaxed income in that thread is wrong. Untaxed income is not income from which income tax was not withheld, such as cash income received for babysitting or mowing lawns. Untaxed income means income which is not subject to being considered when filing income taxes, such as money deducted on a pre-tax basis from wages for qualified retirement plans or health insurance.
The law says that if you had self-employment earnings of more than $400 (after expenses), you must file a tax return. It doesn’t matter how old you are and it doesn’t matter if someone else can claim you as a dependent. See the link that annoyingdad provided in his post #9.
@MiddKid86
Thank you for your input. I had one last question—Can you clarify what this means on the IRS webpage for Dependents:
"Single dependents—Were you either age 65 or older or blind?
□ No. You must file a return if any of the following apply.
Your unearned income was more than $1,000.
Your earned income was more than $6,200.
Your gross income was more than the larger of—
$1,000, or
Your earned income (up to $5,850) plus $350."
From: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#en_US_2014_publink1000220702
Read the link annoyingdad provided again. You had self employment income in excess of $400. This means that no social security was taken out of your pay by an employer. Because you earned more than $400 in self employed income, you are supposed to file a return, and pay this “self employment tax” which I believe is essentially the SS that never got withheld.
Right. It’s the FICA tax (Social Security and Medicare) that wasn’t withheld plus the half of that tax that an employer normally pays. The part that the employer normally pays can be claimed as a deduction on the 1040.
Practically speaking your mom is probably right, most in your situation don’t report their income and probably few get caught. Legally, you should be reporting it. You can go through an interactive IRS presentation for James King, the teenage lawn mower at the link below. It would apply to baby sitting, dog sitting etc. too. Note that it asks for earnings not reported on a 1099-MISC which is your case.
http://apps.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/hows/mod14/sim_mod14b_01.jsp
Ahh. okay I see. Thank you for all of your help, I will show this thread to my mom.
I just want to clarify that in the context of finaid forms. Those pre-tax items are excluded from AGI. Generally contributions for medical and dental insurance aren’t reportable. There are specific questions that ask for pre-tax retirement contributions so they aren’t reported in “other untaxed income”…
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